Crippled
by Gaerwn
Summary: United they stand - and united they may very well fall. Steve, Danny, Chin, and Kono face an enemy that only wants one thing: to see them all dead. Teamfic, casefic, whump, action.
1. Chapter 1

**Crippled**  
by gaerwn

Summary: United they stand - and united they may very well fall. Steve, Danny, Chin, and Kono face an enemy that only wants one thing: to see them all dead. Teamfic, casefic, whump, action.

Note: Timeline is after 3x10. No big spoilers, though.

* * *

_"If you need to injure someone, do it in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance." - Niccolo Machiavelli_

* * *

Danny flexed the fingers of his right hand, looking for all the world like he wanted to curl them into a fist and clock the nearest person. Luckily for his partner, the brightly-colored cast that adorned his wrist and forearm prevented him from actually doing it. Steve, though, was under no delusion that Danny could - and probably would, if he was worked into just the right mood - use the damned cast as a club. Just in case, Steve was smart enough to stand out of arm's reach and intelligent enough to let Danny do the talking. For now.

That is, if Danny would actually talk. So far, he seemed stuck on staring at swollen fingers and idly running his left hand over the cast. (No one had said a word about the purple flowers that Grace had drawn all over the cast. Steve had been there when Grace had announced that she was going to paint a masterpiece on Danny's arm, carefully choosing just the right colors. No pink, because Danno didn't do pink. She knew that - but Steve hadn't quite figured out how purple flowers were any more manly than whatever pink things the girl might have drawn on the cast. He wasn't going to ask, because this was Danno and as far as Danno was concerned, Grace was an artist. The best artist. The only artist. And no one was allowed to snicker or smirk at the purple-flowered cast.) Steve pressed his lips together and almost took a half-step forward before he caught himself.

Best not to put himself into range just yet. "Uh, Danny?"

The answer was a hum of questioning acknowledgment. Danny didn't even look up.

Steve wasn't sure what to make of that. All this time together and a silent Danny threw him more than any one of his partner's rants. Maybe all of them put together, for that matter. "You, ah... you doing all right there?"

Steve could almost hear the gears grind to halt as Danny finally turned to look at him. "Yes." Danny opened his mouth to say something else and Steve found himself hard-pressed not to say it with him. "No thanks to you."

The SEAL furrowed his brow and pointed at the cast. "You can't blame me for that." He ticked off the points on his fingers. "It wasn't a case. It wasn't work-related at all. I wasn't even on the island at the time. I didn't ask you to do anything for me. You weren't in my house, nor were you in my car."

Danny interrupted with a disbelieving snort. "That's because you're always in mine."

Steve continued as if he didn't hear that. "In fact, if I recall correctly, you... what? Fell while you were-"

"I was with Grace, okay? Shut up."

Steve McGarrett, the man who intimidated most everyone the team arrested, had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning. None of the team had been able to get Danny to tell them exactly what had happed. He'd just shown up one day after a weekend with Grace with the cast and refused to talk about it.

Which, of course, meant that Steve's imagination was working overtime on this one. Something obviously happened and each of them had their pet theories. Kono believed it was a surfing accident. Chin took the minor bruising on Danny's right temple to mean he'd taken a rather embarrassing header down a flight of stairs. Steve was still working on the details, but it involved one of Danny's ties and a wayward shopping cart. He cleared his throat, trying to banish the theories long enough to at least look a little concerned. "Your hand okay?"

"No thanks-"

"-to me. Yes, I know. That's not an answer."

There was a long moment of palpable tension. "Yeah, it's good. Sore."

"Probably shouldn't have braced yourself with that arm."

Danny turned an incredulous gaze on his partner, mouth opened and closing for a moment before he managed an answer. "I was fallling!"

"And you should have used your good arm to brace yourself," Steve pointed out mildly.

This time, Danny did use his good arm. He used it to poke Steve right in the middle of the chest. "Shut up."

Steve waited for more. Danny always had more; he was always brimming over with words, but instead of being filled with the sound of well-placed words, the air between them was silent. Steve raised a brow, looked down at the finger still planted in the middle of his chest, and then back into Danny's face. "That's it?"

Danny blinked at him a few times. "Whaddya mean 'that's it'?"

"You don't have anything more to say?"

"What part of 'shut up' didn't you get?"

Steve looked upward and tilted his head to the side, as if he was actually thinking that one over. Yeah, he knew he was pushing buttons. He was trying to push buttons. Get one good rant going and maybe Danny would quit dwelling on the aching in his recently broken arm. It may not be the best method of helping along a friend's pain management but it was all Steve had. (Come to think of it, though, he probably had some ibuprofen stashed away in the Camaro somewhere. Probably next to the extra clips he kept in the glove box. Pushing buttons was more fun than pills, though.)

Danny responded with a huff as he dropped his hand. "At least we caught the guy."

"I caught the guy."

"I slowed him down."

"By falling on him," Steve pointed out. "Badly."

"This is your fault."

Steve just gave him a look as he turned toward the Camaro. HPD had come and gone with their perp - some small-time crook that got himself into too much trouble. Five-0 had picked up the case as a favor to Duke Lukela; HPD was swamped and didn't want to let this one through their fingers. They hadn't had the manpower to track the guy and Five-0 was conveniently not that busy, so Steve McGarrett's crack team of high-profile crime specialists had taken to running down a small-time dealer and sometime car thief.

Whom Danny had promptly fallen on when he'd corralled the kid. It was a little more complicated than that. Danny had made an impressive one-armed collar; Steve could give credit where credit was due and Danny usually deserved a good amount of it when it came to their cases. This one, though... This one had been a bit of a fluke. Danny had the kid well in hand when he'd been kicked just so in the ankle. Off-balance, Danny had snarled at the kid and tried to yank him back under control. They'd both gone down and it took Steve to sort out the tangle of casted and cuffed arms. Danny had been cursing up a storm while cradling his arm, the kid had been screaming about his bleeding nose he'd cracked on the asphalt, and Steve had been (silently) berating himself for even letting Danny convince him he was all right for field work with a cast on his right arm.

Idiot. Every last one of them, including himself, was an idiot.

"I'm serious," Danny called behind him as he fell into step. "Your fault."

"You fell, Danny. I didn't trip you."

"My arm hurts."

"Of course it does. You fell." Steve glanced over his shoulder. "I'm driving."

Danny threw his left hand into the air, right arm clamped to his abdomen. "When are you not?"

Steve made a show of tossing the keys into the air, catching them, and sliding into the driver's seat of the car. Danny grumbled all the way to the passenger's door.

Another day in paradise.

* * *

Kono met them at the doors into the offices. Tall and slender, she was the definition of a breath of fresh air. Her dark eyes danced with a humor that had seemed far too absent of late and Danny raised a brow at her as his step faltered. Must not be a new dead body, he reflected as her full lips parted in a smile. "Hey guys," she said as she crossed to them, manila envelope in hand. As she passed, she pressed it to Danny's chest. "Come with me."

Throwing Steve a questioning look, he turned to watch Kono as he fumbled with the envelope. The woman halted mid-step and looked over her shoulder at him. "Do I have to say it again?" she asked.

"Why?"

"Because you're not following me."

"I meant..." With a huff, he trailed off while Steve attempted not to look so amused. Danny waved a hand at his partner. "Paperwork. We have some. _You_ have some. Do it."

Steve raised his hands and retreated without a word. Kono, meanwhile, motioned Danny forward.

"What?"

Kono inclined her head toward the manila envelope Danny was still holding to his chest. "Those need dropped off at the crime lab. Duke called, too. He wants to talk to you. Something about the arrest today."

Danny nodded once. "Two birds, one stone. Why are you going when I could run the errand?" He jogged a few steps to catch up with her, then fell into step beside her.

"I want out of the office." She shrugged one shoulder. "I didn't get to run anyone down today," she said with a mock pout.

"I would have traded places with you," Danny told her seriously.

Kono looked askance at him before she reached out to take the folder from him. "You really should be wearing a sling, brah. And maybe not chasing down suspects."

Expression flat, Danny answered with, "I can carry an envelope."

Kono's brow furrowed. "You were carrying a surfboard, weren't you? When it happened. Am I right?"

"Shut up," Danny said without heat as they stepped into the brilliant sunshine. They went a few more steps before he raised his left hand and, still without much heat, half-turned to point at her. Whatever he was going to say was lost in the deafening echo that shattered the afternoon chatter of a city's normal sounds. Kono's training kicked in before she registered what it was she saw: one hand pulling her service weapon, she was looking around as she crouched next to Danny.

As her hand settled on his shoulder, it all caught up with her. Hit her with enough force that she couldn't draw a breath. Gun trained on nothing and aim shifting at every subtle movement in the street, she was horrified at the thought of even looking down at him.

He'd dropped. Right in front of her. His eyes had fluttered and he'd dropped bonelessly to the ground. A million horrible images flooded her mind even as she kept her gaze flitting about the area. People milled around, looking panicked. Some had the presence of mind to pull out cell phones - Kono made a absent, clinical note to see if anyone started recording the scene. Behind her, she heard the doors open. Heard Steve calling her name, a near-frantic question in his tone. Heard him call Danny's name and panic laced his voice.

_Oh, God. Danny._

She looked down.

She looked down and stopped breathing.

Blood pooled under Danny - under his head, oh, God - and she nearly scrambled to her feet, ready to run, when she realized her knee was planted right in the middle of a growing pool. Horror filled wide eyes and her weapon wavered. Swiftly holstering the weapon without thought, she reached for Danny with both hands, one hovering over his neck as if to check his pulse and the other over the mess of blood at his temple. She heard footsteps on concrete, the skidding of boots as Steve slid to a stop over them, gun drawn and gaze predatory.

"Kono!"

At the sound of her name, Kono moved. She drew a desperate breath and nearly jammed her fingers into Danny's neck. _Pulse, pulse, please be a_... pulse! There. "Alive," she whispered, then took another breath and tried again. "Alive." She clasped her hand over the bleeding wound. Ignoring Steve - she could clearly see him in her mind's eye, tense and ready to pounce on anything that might seem a threat - Kono dug in her pocket for her cell phone.

Her hand shook as she dialed for help.

tbc-


	2. Chapter 2

**Crippled**  
_Chapter Two_

* * *

The scene that Chin came onto was pure chaos. The Five-0 team was spectacularly not busy this week; it happened sometimes, especially after a big case. Less than a month ago, the team (along with Catherine, Max, and Kamekona) had celebrated their part in breaking down a major drug trafficking ring that came through Honolulu. Since then, things had been pretty quiet. They'd landed one murder case and ran a few errands for Sergeant Lukela and that had been good enough for them for now. Police work was police work. In fact, Chin had been out on a long lunch when the near-frantic call came from Steve.

He hadn't been expecting it. He never did. Sure, he expected calls from his boss about a case, but his boss never told him to "get your ass back to HQ now" without a damned good reason. And then Steve had hung up; Chin had heard him barking some order to someone, cut off in mid-sentence as McGarrett cut the connection. Chin parked his truck rather haphazardly, narrowed eyes taking in the police presence and the bystanders milling about across the street from Iolani Palace.

So this was the crime scene. That didn't bode well.

Chin caught sight of Steve talking to Lukela – and somehow looking like he was pulling a Danny while he was doing it. His hands were waving, he was gesturing, and he was definitely saying something that Lukela didn't want to hear. Chin jogged in that direction, alarm ratcheting up a few notches when he could make out the words in the argument.

"—can't do that, McGarrett," Lukela said, hand slicing the air in a gesture that spoke of finality. "You know that."

"I don't _care_, Duke." Steve's voice was hard, edged with something Chin couldn't quite name.

Lukela pressed his lips together, gaze flickering over Chin as the man of Five-0 approached. The fact that his expression looked pained upon seeing him did little to set Chin's mind at ease. Lukela looked back over to Steve, expression sympathetic but voice still firm. "I can't. This cannot be your jurisdiction." He held his hands up, palms out toward Steve. "You know full well I respect you and your team, but in this case, it's too close."

At that, Chin's eyes grew wide and he stared at Steve. Given the way HPD and Five-0 had been cooperating lately, the last thing he would have thought they were arguing about were jurisdictional issues. But there was one thing that would automatically take a cop off a case and that was if it was personal. Alarmed, Chin scanned the crowd again. When he'd first come up and not immediately seen Kono and Danny, he thought maybe they were out taking statements or otherwise occupied.

Now he wasn't so sure. His unsettled gaze focused on Steve. Lukela crossed his arms and looked down at the sidewalk.

That's when Chin saw the blood. It was congealing, pooled and smeared on the concrete a few feet away from where they stood. He would have seen it sooner had he not been so focused on Steve and Lukela. "Steve?" And damn it all, but his voice wavered a bit.

Steve ran a hand over his face, all tension and worry. When he spoke his voice was still hard, though the words had to be scoring him just as deeply as they did Chin. "Danny was shot."

"What?"

Steve's hand lingered at his mouth for a moment and Chin knew he was watching the man pull himself together with a herculean effort. Chin himself was still gaping. "Kono's with him," Steve said. "Was with him then, too."

_Oh, Kono. _Chin gaped for a moment longer before following Steve's lead and trying – and failing – to approach this like a case. (Except they weren't on a case. This wasn't their case.) "How bad?"

"I don't know."

That was the worst feeling in the world, Chin knew. Never knowing. He took a deep breath, glanced at the crowds still milling about on the sidewalks, and then looked back at Steve. Slowly, as if he was afraid of actually touching the man, Chin reached out and squeezed Steve's bicep before turning his attention to Lukela.

Before Chin could speak, Lukela did. "I can't turn the case over. I'm sorry."

"I know," Chin said, surprised his voice was steady in this. Under his hand, Steve trembled with tension. "I won't ask you to. We need to be in the loop."

"You will." Lukela's voice was firm. "Look, I know you're going to look into this yourselves. Keep us in the loop."

Chin nodded once. "Agreed."

Lukela clapped his hand on Chin's shoulder, glanced at Steve, and backed away, calling for a couple uniforms to confer with as he did. Chin let his hand drop as Steve drew a deep breath. After a moment's silence, Chin asked softly, "What happened?"

Steve's gaze flickered over the crowd, over the buildings nearby, and the cars in the lot. "One shot, just after they exited the building." He took another breath, seeming to gain composure as he related the facts of the case. Fall into business; made dealing with things easier. Chin knew that. "HPD's working on origin. Forensics team is on the..." Steve trailed off, noticing a van pull onto the premises. "Scratch that, they're here."

"So it wasn't long ago."

"I called you just before the ambulance left."

That explained the barked orders Chin had heard on the phone.

"I came out when I heard the shot," Steve continued. "Danny was already down. Neither Kono nor I could find the shooter."

Chin frowned. "One shot?"

"If Danny was the target, that's all the shooter thought he needed. He was down, Chin."

Chin closed his eyes against the image, trying to banish it before he spoke. "So that begs the question."

"Who wants Danny dead?"

Chin nodded slowly, lips pressed together and scanning the crowd, as if an answer would leap out at him. One did. He blinked as it occurred to him; he should have thought of it before, but he supposed he could be excused just this once. "There are cameras everywhere on this block."

"I'll make sure Duke's thought of it."

"He will," Chin said. "Do we let him take it?"

Steve took another deep breath, his gaze distant and hard. "For now."

Chin wondered how long that would last. He nodded and said nothing about it, though. They'd see the video, one way or another. Silence lingered for a long moment and Chin found his gaze drawn to the blood on the walk. It seemed to hold a spell over him – over both of them. He stared, transfixed, and started when Steve finally broke the silence.

"Kono's supposed to call."

Chin looked up to find Steve staring at his cell. "Come on," he said. "There's nothing we can do here." And that? That tore anew at his heart. Nothing he could do. Absolutely _nothing_ here. But they could go meet Kono at the hospital and at least try to be some sort of support and encouragement there. "I'll drive us."

At that, Steve glanced at the silver Camaro sitting in its usual spot. Chin could understand: it was a tangible reminder of life, of vitality. Something to hold onto while they waited for some sort of word. He clapped Steve's shoulder gently. "Let's go."

"Yeah." Steve fell into step beside Chin. Together, they skirted the blood and made their way toward Chin's SUV.

Halfway there, Steve's phone rang. He almost dropped it in an uncharacteristic fumble to answer. Chin glanced at the caller id and sent up a desperate prayer that Kono was calling with good news. "Kono?" Steve's questioning tone was underlined with a horrible sort of dread. "You're on speaker. Chin's here." Steve glanced at Chin and Chin could see the prayer mirrored in his eyes.

Kono's voice, tinny through the cell, held a certain thread of desperate strength, as if it was only a thin steel core that kept her from breaking apart completely. "He'll be okay."

Chin wanted to sit down on the grass. Steve let out the breath he'd been holding. "How bad is it?"

"Not as bad as it looked." Chin wondered how bad it had looked that Kono's voice wavered so much. "But bad enough. Come down here?"

Steve was already moving toward the vehicle. Chin had to force his feet to start moving. "On our way."

"This is gonna be our case, right, Boss?" Kono's voice held something both Steve and Chin understood all too well: a desire for retribution.

"It's ours."

Steve's tone brooked no argument. Chin set his jaw. Official channels didn't matter anymore. Steve hung up the phone and Chin wondered if their amiable working relationship with HPD just went down the drain.

So what if it did. He couldn't find it in himself to care right now.

-tbc…

((_Author's note: Thank you for all the positive response on this! I couldn't have done it without encouragement from the DWOCD. Special shout-out to those wonderful, rockin' people. It's a shorter chapter, I know, but it's the best natural stopping point I had. You're all awesome; thank you.))_


	3. Chapter 3

**Crippled**  
Chapter Three

Kono looked wrecked. Repeatedly running her hands through her hair had left her already somewhat wild locks looking as frazzled as she felt. Dark eyes shone with worry and unshed tears (though a few tears had been shed and she flatly refused to admit that to just anyone.) She paced the hallways, always keeping within sight of the entrance; she also flatly refused to not be immediately accessible when Chin and Steve came through those doors.

Eighteen steps down the hallway, to the t-junction, glance to the left because that's where they'd taken Danny, and then eighteen steps back. Pause at the water fountain, look at the doors, hope they were coming because she didn't want to be alone anymore – and then start the whole process over again. That had been her routine. She was at the t-junction, looking left, when she heard her name called.

Those eighteen steps seemed to take forever as she closed the distance between them. Steve met her halfway, Chin following closely behind.

"He's okay," she said quickly. She had a feeling those words needed repeated more often than not. "He's okay." Steve's mouth worked, but Kono spoke again before he could ask his question. "It was a glancing hit. It's one hell of a graze. When he fell, he knocked his head pretty hard; they're treating him for a concussion."

There was silence for a long moment before Steve uttered one word. "Concussion."

"Yeah," she replied.

Steve ran his hand over his face while Chin's worried expression melted into a smile.

"He woke up in the ambulance," Kono said. "Wasn't with us too long, but it's just as well, I think. He was pretty confused."

"He didn't remember what happened," Steve said. It wasn't a question.

"No." Kono pressed her lips together; she would remember it for him.

"So even if he saw anything…"

"He can't tell us," Chin finished quietly. "Judging by what you said, though, it's pretty unlikely he saw anything."

Kono was nodding halfway through Chin's comment. "He's right. He was looking at me. In fact, he'd just turned toward me when…" She trailed off, gamely started again. "When it happened."

Steve nodded once, filing the information away before returning to his volley of questions. "What else have they told you?"

Kono took half a step back, settling into a familiar routine of reporting facts to her boss. This, she could do without problem. She just had to forget who she was talking about. Easier said than actually done, that was certain. She glanced at Chin, who gave her a reassuring nod, and then began to speak. "He's being admitted. They want him under observation for at least twenty-four hours. It'll probably end up being close to forty-eight, all things considered. Grade three concussion, if only because he lost consciousness. They aren't too worried about blood loss or any complications from the actual wound."

Steve looked ready to bolt past her and check on his partner himself. Kono wouldn't have blamed him. "What else? What happened when he woke up?"

"Confused, like I said. Wanted to know what we were doing and what happened. He was pretty worried about you and Chin. I guess he figured that if he was hurt, there was a good chance someone else was, too." She couldn't help the watery grin. "Kept asking after me, too."

Chin shook his head and clapped Steve on the shoulder. "Oh, yeah. He has a high opinion of us and our abilities."

Steve snorted. "Confusion's normal for a concussion. I was hoping…"

"Yeah, well…" Kono shrugged one shoulder, her gaze drawn toward the t-junction. "I'm thinking we're lucky enough to get what we do have."

Which was Danny alive and they all knew they were damned lucky.

Steve nodded at the observation, then motioned to both of them. He drew them aside, toward an alcove where chairs awaited weary family and friends. They had been standing in the middle of the hallway, unconcerned with the bustle of people that slipped by them as they spoke. Now, though, they needed to step aside, get out of the way, and get to work. As Kono sat and Chin moved to stand protectively over her, he asked another question. "When can we see him?"

"They wanted to get him settled first." Kono leaned forward, arms crossed over her abdomen as she hunched in on herself. It wasn't until she saw Danny well – not bloody or confused – that she would be able to shed the image of his boneless fall to the concrete. "What's going on, Boss?"

"We're going to find out."

"There are cameras…"

Steve was already nodding. "HPD's doing the initial investigating on this one." Unspoken was that they – all three of them – felt like they needed to be here for now. "Duke's good; he'll know that. Probably the first thing he did."

Kono's lips twitched. "First thing after chasing you off, right?"

Chin's hand dropped onto her shoulder at her comment. "He agreed to keep us in the loop." His words were for Kono as much as they were for Steve. "He knows we can't stand aside on this and we have resources they don't."

"We'll get our hands on the forensic evidence and move from there." Steve pulled a chair out to sit directly in front of Kono. "I figured on taking care of a certain eyewitness account. As a favor to Duke and all."

Kono's answering smile was thin, tremulous. "Right. A favor to Duke." She straightened and rubbed her arms briskly. "Okay. Where do you want me to start?"

"Walk us through it."

She nodded, not exactly looking forward to reliving what was turning out to be a traumatic experience. Chin's hand on her shoulder squeezed once, gentle and firm all at once, and Kono swallowed around a suddenly dry throat. "Okay." She took another breath and forced herself to stop thinking about it. Relive it, find the details, and don't think. Just experience. She could do that. "Danny was on my right when we walked out. He held the door open for me; I let him." She usually did. It made him feel good and it made her feel special, in a way that amused her. "Had to make up for not letting him carry the envelope, you know? His arm and all…"

Above her, Chin snorted in something close to tremulous amusement. Kono knew why: her teasing of Danny over his broken arm had been pretty relentless.

"All right," Steve said. "So you're outside… Then?"

"We weren't very far from the doors," Kono answered. "Just a few steps. I'd been teasing him all the way out the office. He'd just told me to shut up. You know how he does."

Steve nodded, one corner of his mouth quirking upward in an odd, fond half-smile. "Like he doesn't mean it at all."

"Yeah. But I did. We went maybe two steps before he decided he needed to defend himself. Or something. I dunno. It was just as he turned toward me. Instantaneous." She saw it again, replaying the scene over in her head. It'd been on a nonstop loop since Danny had gone down. This time, something else came with it: a muted horror and realization that hadn't occurred to her before. "You don't think…" She trailed off, unable to give voice to her suspicion.

"Think what?" Chin asked quietly. Behind him, nurses bustled around. Family members held muted conversations. Shoes squeaked on polished linoleum.

"When he turned…" Kono stopped again.

Steve picked up her train of thought, having already figured out what she was thinking. "He'd be dead if he hadn't."

"Lucky," Chin said quietly.

Kono's hand drifted to her mouth as, once again, just how close they'd come to losing a friend hit her. "If I hadn't been teasing him…"

Her boss reached over and lightly rested his hand on her knee. "When he comes around again, you tell him your teasing saved him. He'll hate to hear it." His eyes twinkled with sad humor. "Gives you a free pass for a while." Kono tried to return the humor but all she could manage was near-blank expression. Steve squeezed her knee and sat back again. "Did you see anything at all?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I was looking afterward, but I wasn't exactly sure where the shot came from and honestly, when it happened, I was looked down at him." She brightened a little, her gaze coming to rest on Steve. "Some of the bystanders had their phones out. We might be able to track down recordings and photos."

"Good thinking. I'll get some HPD resources on gathering up eyewitnesses." Steve sighed. "Right now, eyewitness is all we got."

"Cameras had to get something," Chin said. "If anything, we know Danny and Kono were on camera. We can at least get a direction on the shot."

Kono blanched at the thought of having to watch it all over again. She'd have to leave that for the guys. She wasn't sure she could do it again. Once again, Steve laid a hand on her knee. "I'll take of that."

She nodded, feeling a bit worthless but not able to muster up the wherewithal to even think of seeing it again.

Steve took a deep breath. "I'm gonna lean on Duke. See if I can't get copies of the video and whatever evidence they've collected so far. I'll mention the phones. Chin, call HPD and get some unis on Danny's door." He squeezed Kono's knee again. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good."

"Good." Steve stood. "Stay here, Kono. Keep us in the loop here. Watch your back."

Kono heard his unspoken words: _Watch Danny's back_. She nodded.

Steve started to move down the hallway, stride purposeful. "I'll keep in touch."

Kono watched him for a moment, form silhouetted by the light streaming in the glass doors. She glanced up at Chin, her hand drifting to rest on his on her shoulder. He was watching Steve with a furrowed brow and thinned lips. "Go with him, cous."

"Kono."

"I'm okay. Honest. Just rattled a bit. I'm not going anywhere and you'll have some uniforms here, right?" Her fingers encircled his wrist. "He needs a bit of direction, I think. Before he watches that video alone."

That seemed to make Chin's decision for him. His hand cupped the back of her neck for a moment before he stepped away. "Call me, all right?"

"You know I will."

"The second he wakes up." Chin took a hesitant step toward the door.

She nodded. "Call Steve before he leaves you here."

Chin shook his head, but he was already dialing. Whether it was Steve first or HPD, Kono didn't know; Chin was jogging out the door and out of earshot before she heard him speak.

She leaned back in her chair, letting the sounds of the hospital wash over her for a long moment. Another deep breath and she stood. Eighteen steps to the t-junction. Look left. Let herself drift in a moment of gratitude and hope.

Eighteen steps back, each one echoing with horror and dread. Turn. Look out the doorway where Steve and Chin were chasing down leads and let a desire for retribution swell. Take eighteen hurried steps back. Look left again.

And find that elusive hope again.

-tbc…


	4. Chapter 4

**Crippled**  
Chapter Four

* * *

The first time Steve watched the footage, he let it play and didn't bother trying to pinpoint any pertinent details. He knew that he'd never be able to, not until he got the first horrible play-through over with. The footage was a little grainy and the angle was odd: Danny and Kono were pictured to the far left of the screen, but it was enough to see clearly what had happened.

Maybe a little too clearly.

Steve glanced at Chin, who stood two steps behind and a step to the right; the older man was standing with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, feet shoulder-width apart, and staring with narrowed eyes at the screen. Mechanically, Steve turned his attention back to the screen and then reached out to pause the footage.

One time through might never be enough to get it out of their systems. He took a breath and, without looking away from the screen, addressed Chin. "Ready?"

"Play it." Chin's answer was succinct, his voice laced with a deadly edge that boded ill for whoever was responsible for this. Steve couldn't blame him for it in the least.

Steve restarted the scene from the beginning. Watching Danny and Kono leave the building nearly undid his resolve to treat this as another case. He'd already seen the shot, already seen Danny go down and watching Kono's horrified response. He stood in the aftermath and managed the fallout. He could watch a video and not be thrown off by something he'd already seen.

He still flinched at the soundless shot. He couldn't seem to pull himself out of the scene; to watch his partner gunned down seemed more than his mind could objectively process. Steve tried to focus on the people around Danny and Kono, but all he had eyes for were his team.

"Stop." Chin reached over Steve's shoulder and stopped the footage himself. On screen, Kono's image froze with one hand on Danny's shoulder and the other caught in the action of pulling her weapon. "Back it up a little." Again, Chin did it himself; Steve edged out of the older man's way.

He glanced at Chin as he backed up the footage and replayed. This time, without saying anything, Chin stopped it, then pointed to something in the upper right corner, among the thinly crowded sidewalk across the street. In the left foreground, Danny was in mid-fall, Kono's hands rising as she was caught in the midst of a step backward. "See it?"

It took Steve a quick moment to tear his gaze from what seemed to have the most impact in the footage, but as soon as he saw what Chin was pointing to, he knew exactly what Chin had seen – and what Steve himself had missed.

A man stood in the crowd. He could have been any tourist, any local; just a man out for a walk on a bright, sunny afternoon. There was nothing about him that stood out: dressed in jeans and a plain t-shirt, he could have passed for either local or tourist. He was the very definition of nondescript, from the sneakers on his feet to his short, dark hair. Steve might not have picked him out for anything, save for one very important thing.

He was looking the wrong way.

Every other person on the street was frozen in a macabre dance. Some were ducking, some beginning to run wildly away. Many were looking at Danny and Kono. Not this man. He stood tall, arms at his sides rather than rising to his head, as instinct would have told him. He looked off to his left and, though his face wasn't all that clear in the picture, there was a suggestion of a furrowed brow and set jaw.

Steve pointed to the screen. "This man knows something."

"Saw something, at any rate," Chin answered as he pulled out his phone. "I'll call HPD, see if they got any hits on witnesses with cell phones. They might have a better angle."

Steve nodded. "We'll go through this footage. We need a better shot of this guy. When we get it," he said, because he refused to believe that they wouldn't, "I want it blown up and printed. I want every officer available running this guy down."

Chin nodded resolutely before he turned on his heel and started dialing his phone. Steve gave him the privacy he needed for the call and turned his attention to the screen. Now that he had something solid to look for, he felt that maybe he could get through the footage without freezing when Danny hit the ground.

Big, bad superSEAL, afraid of watching his partner seemingly die. God, what would Danny say about that?

As he restarted the video, his phone rang. He answered it with a clipped greeting, not even bothering to check the caller id.

Duke Lukela's voice was almost unrecognizable; his usually easy tones were replaced by something hard and unwavering. "I've got something for you, McGarrett."

On screen, the image of Danny fell again and Steve felt anger harden into resolve.

* * *

"That's it, brah. Open your eyes."

Thing was, Danny had absolutely no desire to open his eyes, despite Kono's pleading. Waking hadn't been pleasant; all waking up did was let him know that his head hurt like all hell and that was knowledge he could have done without. There was a painful throbbing centered at his temple, intensified the one time he'd tried to move his head – so he'd stopped trying to move and let it subside to a dull ache.

"Come on." Long fingers wrapped around his own and squeezed gently. "I'd really love to be able to call Steve and Chin and tell them you're awake again."

Right. Again. Last time had been… Oh, he knew this. It was hovering just out of reach. Lots of activity, noise, shouting.

_Ambulance._

Oh.

All right, then. Ambulance. An ambulance usually meant something unexpected and bad had happened. Danny, though, for the life of him could not remember what it was. He wasn't so far gone, though, as to not connect the ambulance with the pain in his head.

"Danny, I know you can hear me." Kono's gentle pleading had gone to gentle reprimand.

In response, because he never liked to see Kono worry, he curled his fingers around hers.

"There you are." He could hear the smile in her voice. "Eyes next, Danny. You got this."

Seriously? Did she think he needed that much encouragement to open his eyes? But then the moment he tried, he amended that. He might need the encouragement. A cool hand smoothed over his forehead, lightly chasing away the ache that had settled there for a moment. The bright light that permeated his lids clicked off. "Lamp's out," Kono said. "It'll work better now."

Testing that theory, Danny cracked one lid, just barely making out Kono's face hovering over him. With one hand, she held his; the other drifted back to his cheek. Blurred vision didn't make her smile any less engaging. "There you are."

It took Danny a moment to remember how to speak. His voice was soft and mostly breath. "Hey."

"Hey yourself, handsome." Kono's hand drifted toward his shoulder. "How you feeling?"

He opened his mouth to attempt an answer, but was shushed almost immediately.

"You really shouldn't talk just yet."

Danny managed to raise a hand just a few inches off the bed, palm up in question. To her credit, Kono looked chagrined as she replayed the conversation in her mind. "Sorry," she said. "Had a bit of a scare. I'm allowed to freak out."

Danny's brow furrowed; whatever scared her had something to do with his head hurting and he couldn't remember. Not a good combination. Her smile melted into something a little more at ease. "Don't worry about it just yet," Kono told him. "Need a nurse?"

"No."

She patted his hand, frowning a bit at the breathy quality of his voice. "Concussion, Danny. The fuzziness will ease up before long."

He tried nodding in response, which only set off the throbbing again. Kono caught his hand before it could drift toward the bandage on his temple. Yeah, whoever hit him in the head was going to get punched in the face. Multiple times. "…what?"

"What happened?" Kono pressed her lips together. "I'll tell you when you're more awake, all right? Rest for now."

There was a long silence as Danny left his eyes drift closed and mustered up the coherency and wherewithal to utter the next words. "Everyone else?"

"Is fine. Promise." Again, she squeezed his hand. Cracking open his eyes, Danny had a flash of intuition that it seemed to do her a hell of a lot of good somehow to see him awake and responding. (A flash of memory came with it, of a hellish ride in an ambulance. Of Kono trembling and pleading. Not something he wanted to remember.) "Rest."

He could do that. He squeezed her fingers again and let himself drift in painless darkness. Kono smiled again, worry easing from her countenance.

Behind her, a nurse quietly entered the room.

-tbc…


	5. Chapter 5

**Crippled**  
Chapter Five

Chin rounded the corner at a steady, quick pace, manila envelope securely clasped in his hand. With his badge on his belt and his gun on his hip, there was no doubt that he was a law enforcement officer on a mission. Quickly sidestepping (and muttering a soft apology) a nurse he nearly plowed into, Chin made his way toward the room where he knew Kono would still be. He was fairly certain that his cousin probably hadn't left since the very moment she'd been allowed to her teammate's bedside.

Loyal, that's what that girl was, and Chin knew it firsthand.

He skid to a stop as soon as he came in the door, trying to go from cop on a mission to quiet as a mouse in the span of one footstep. Kono was curled up in a chair next to the bed, her hand lightly resting on Danny's. Both looked asleep and, for that, Chin was grateful. The uniform outside had been on high alert; it was about time Kono got some much needed rest herself – and Danny looked less like death and more like he was resting comfortably.

Good. That's good, Chin thought, even as his gaze strayed to the envelope. He did have to wake Kono, unfortunately. He hesitated, though, hand half-reaching toward her shoulder.

Without opening her eyes, Kono spoke, voice soft but alert. "You don't have to wake me up."

Chin let his hand drop. "Sorry. I didn't want to disturb you." Still moving quietly out of respect for the actual sleeping occupant of the room, he lowered himself into a chair opposite the bed. "How's he doing?"

Kono sat up and disentangled her fingers from Danny's. The look she gaze Chin was one of unbridled relief. "He woke up. We talked a bit. He still doesn't remember what happened, but he's coherent." Her mouth quirked in an unbidden smile. "Even managed to get onto me for contradicting myself."

"Sounds like him," Chin said, still speaking quietly, gaze drawn to the man on the bed. Lines furrowed Danny's brow and Chin pressed his lips together. It looked like Danny was close to waking; Chin wasn't sure what to think about that. His own less than stealthy entrance and conversation probably went a long way toward disturbing Danny, but Chin would feel much better if he heard and saw Danny awake for himself.

Kono sat forward, drawing Chin's gaze to herself. "Whatcha got?"

Chin held up the envelope. "Might have a lead." Kono brightened and Chin frowned. "It's not much of one and I know you already said you didn't see anything, but you know I have to ask."

She nodded, hand extending over the bed for the envelope. Chin didn't hand it over just yet; treating his cousin like a victim was so very foreign to him that he almost couldn't bring himself to ask her about the man in the photo.

"Chin…"

"Just hand it over." Danny's voice was rough, eyes not even open as he injected himself into the conversation. "Then get out and let me sleep."

Judging by Kono's bright grin, Danny sounded stronger than he had before. "You heard the man," she said, waggling her fingers.

Without a word, Chin handed the envelope over. Danny sighed and raised a hand to his forehead. "What is it?"

"I can turn off the lamp again," Kono offered as she opened the clasp.

"Not even gonna chance it," Danny mumbled.

"It's a picture," Chin offered. "A man in the footage acting off."

"Good enough reason to take a look." Kono slid the photo out of the envelope, then froze as she stared into a familiar face.

Chin wasn't sure what she was doing. Reliving the moment maybe? He had no idea, but when Kono shot to her feet and sent the chair skidding backward with the abrupt movement, Chin followed suit. Danny rolled his head toward her and cracked his eyes open, hand still on his forehead.

"Stay here," Kono snapped. She turned on her heel and went for the door.

"Kono?" Chin rounded the foot of the bed, worry in every line of his body.

"He was just here." Kono's eyes were wide when she glanced at him. "He was a nurse." And then she shot out the door, leaving both Chin and Danny staring after her.

"Go," Danny rasped.

Chin didn't need another prompting. Almost absentmindedly, he clicked off the lamp on his way out. Danny, for his part, slumped down in the bed, hand still over his eyes, and wondered what the hell was going on.

* * *

"What've you got?"

To his credit, Duke Lukela answered promptly and without any hint of having been intimidated by Steve McGarrett's brusque manner. At the counter in the main lobby of the HPD precinct, he motioned Steve to come around. In his hand were both a file folder and a plastic evidence bag. "CSU's processed the scene." He handed Steve the small bag, which housed a spent bullet. "Dug that out of the ground behind Williams."

Steve held up the bag. "So this…"

"Yeah."

Steve had an urge to find a way to shove this particular bullet down the shooter's throat.

"That's not the interesting part," Duke continued. "CSU managed to put together a good trajectory."

"We know where he shot from?"

Duke nodded. "Wouldn't have except for that bullet. Whoever did the shooting cleaned up after themselves. That's a .223. Rifle, would have left spent shells."

"But you found nothing?" Steve gestured with the bag. "Why call me down here, then, if all you have is that it's a clean site?"

Duke held up the file folder. "It's not all I have."

"What's this?" Steve took the folder, his brow furrowed.

"That," Duke tapped the folder with a finger, "is a picture of your suspected shooter."

Steve almost dropped the folder in his haste to open it. The picture itself was grainy, a result of losing resolution after being blown up, but the color was intact. A blonde man, lanky, wearing an olive green shirt and khaki pants. Nothing remarkable, save for somewhat craggy features – and the rifle in hand as he scurried into the shadows. "How?"

"Once we had a location on the shooter, we started looking for cameras there." Duke sighed. "Nothing official, no traffic cams, no ATMs. This guy knew he was out of sight."

"So how'd we get a picture of him?" Steve held the picture in a tight grip, face hard as he questioned Duke.

"Bystanders," Duke answered. "A few of them came to us with some cell footage. All we had to do was figure out which witness was standing where."

"Lucky."

"Absolutely." Duke tapped the folder again, then took the evidence bag back. "I've got this picture out to all my guys. CSU is running it, looking for ID. Thought you might want a crack at it, too. If we find him, we'll tell you."

"Same." Steve clapped Duke on the shoulder as he turned to leave. "Good work, man."

"Any time, brah." Duke watched him leave, arms crossed over his chest. "Any time."

-tbc…


	6. Chapter 6

**Crippled**  
Chapter Six

It seemed like Five-0 was doing more work out of the hospital than their own offices, Steve mused as he made his way down too-bright hallways. It worked out, though: instead of telling Chin to meet him at the palace – and, yes, it occurred to Steve how ostentatious it was to call Five-0 HQ "the palace" but one some inane level it amused them all – and calling Kono with the information, he might as well go to where they both were.

Gave him the added benefit of seeing Danny, too, which was something he hadn't actually managed to get done since this all started. He felt like a tool, not stopping in on his own partner (and friend) in the hospital. Catching the guy responsible had taken precedence. The best way he could help Danny was not by wringing his hands while sitting in an uncomfortable chair; he could help by putting away the man who'd attacked his team.

His friends.

He wouldn't stand for such a thing. Never had before.

And, okay, he hadn't wanted to see Danny still and unresponsive. That frightened him. It was an image fabricated by his mind and an image that wouldn't get the hell out of his mind. Walking through hospital corridors wasn't helping him banish the image, either; not when everywhere he looked were people in varying states of emotional distress, nurses and doctors always moving, and, when he glanced through half-open doors, many of the patients were still. Some slept. Some were awake and speaking, but never gesturing expansively.

Always so still – and that was the very opposite of what Danny usually was. When they stood around the smart table in the office bullpen, Danny was always shifting. When Danny spoke, his hands were always moving. When they were going after a suspect, Danny always managed to hone in and focus on that person, channeling all that energy and passion into a bust.

So to think of Danny as still was to think of Danny as… well, as not even Danny anymore.

And the shooter had not taken his partner away. Had come close – too close – but had ultimately failed, so Steve hadn't made the time to visit Danny while he was down. He refused to give the shooter the satisfaction of giving Steve the image of a non-moving, unresponsive Danny.

That was the rationalization, at any rate. Steve was also selfish and _rationally concerned_ about it all. Better to focus on the case.

At least they had a case now. For a few moments, Steve hadn't been sure that Duke would actually cooperate with them, but they had come to some understanding. The initial tensions at the scene had them both on edge, but Steve and Duke had come to a sort of unspoken agreement: both concerned and both reacting to the situation – and to who the victim was – they had butted heads. It hadn't taken long for them to realize that they were on the same side. In fact, they had always known that. The information just got a little lost amid a sea of uncertainty.

Steve stepped around a corner, coming off the elevator at a brisk walk, and nearly ran into Kono. His arms came up to steady her as she frantically tried to backpedal in an effort to regain her balance. It didn't take but a split second; Kono had a natural grace that did her well. Hands still clasped over her upper arms, Steve asked, "you all right?"

So sue him if he was a little overly protective of everyone just about now. Over Kono's shoulder, he saw Chin jogging down the corridor – and immediately thought the worst. Before Kono could answer, he spoke again. "Danny?"

Kono blinked at him, obviously confused as she answered quickly. "He's fine." Mouth working, she peered past Steve, pulled herself free of his grip, and threw her hands into the air. She glanced at Chin over her shoulder. "Lost him."

"Call HPD," Chin suggested, but Kono was already pulling out her phone and dialing. As she stepped away to make the call, Chin herded Steve out of the middle of the hallway. "Kono recognized our bystander as a nurse who checked in Danny. We tried following him, but…" Chin gestured helplessly. "She's making calls. I didn't want to leave Danny alone for too long."

Steve nodded, already processing the information. For now, let others handle running this guy down; Five-0 had to regroup and it had to be done now. They were a man short and being pulled in too many directions. "He awake?"

"And coherent," Chin answered.

Steve gestured down the hallway. "Danny's room, now." He turned and called out to Kono. "Regroup."

She nodded, still on the phone, and fell in behind Steve and Chin. Idly, as Chin spoke, Steve catalogued the requests she was making of HPD. Judging by what she said, she'd called Duke directly. Good; Duke would see that whatever needed done would be done right.

"He's awake," Chin confirmed, speaking quietly and quickly as he tried to update Steve before they reached the room. "Killer headache, sensitive to light." Chin paused just outside the door. "I don't think anyone's actually told him what's going on."

"I haven't told him yet," Kono interjected as she pocketed her phone. "He hadn't asked yet."

"Well," Steve said as he ushered Kono into the room ahead of him, "we'll have to take of that."

"Take care of what?" Danny's voice was low; Steve knew that that tone. That was the "I have a headache so everyone needs to shut up now" tone. The room was dark; Chin crossed the room to crack open the blinds a bit as Steve closed the door. Dim was fine; bordering on complete darkness wouldn't do much to help the team regroup at all. Danny turned his head away from the window, left hand still draped over his eyes, and grunted at the light.

"It's not that bad, huh?" Chin commented as he took the seat he'd vacated earlier.

"Not you with the headache," Danny muttered. He lifted his hand just enough to eye Kono as she took a position beside the bed. "You find him?"

"Duke's on it," was all she said.

Danny nodded once and let his hand drop. "Take care of what?" he asked again.

Steve stepped up beside Chin and let his hand rest on Danny's arm, just above the cast that adorned his wrist. "How much do you remember?"

Danny didn't move. "Gonna go pick up a guy. Favor to HPD. Then there was ambulance." He lifted his hand again, one eye cracked open as he tried (and mostly failed) to focus on Steve. "What went wrong?"

Running a hand over his face, Steve shook his head. "Nothing."

There was a beat of silence. "How much am I missing?" Danny began to pull himself to a sitting position, ache in his head be damned.

Steve reached out and clasped his left forearm, helping to lever him up. "Couple hours maybe. We got the guy. You and Kono were off to run a few errands. There was a shooter outside the palace."

Danny squeezed his eyes shut, then took a breath as he tried to blink away the headache-induced fog. "Please don't tell me that I was shot in the head."

"Glancing blow," Kono supplied quietly. "You cracked your head pretty hard when you fell."

"Yeah. Figured out I hit my head."

Kono's lips quirked before her expression fell into a frown. "You remember the ambulance?"

"Woke up a few times here and there since then, haven't I?" Danny gave her a sidelong glance. "You worry too much."

She looked somewhere between chagrined, angry, and amused. Steve took the opportunity to redirect the conversation. "We don't have much yet; HPD's taking the lead on this but we've got two people we're pretty interested in."

"Two?" Chin questioned.

"Shooter's on camera," Steve said grimly. "Duke got his hands on a bystander's camera phone. They're running him though facial rec."

Danny's brow furrowed. "You didn't recognize him?"

Steve shook his head. "You need to look at it, though."

"Get me clothes. I'll do it at the palace." A chorus of protests went up. Danny raised his right hand. "Can hang out there just as well as here. You're all too busy hovering here to do any good there. Better together with all our equipment."

There was a beat of silence before Steve nodded once. "I'm talking to the doctor first."

"Be my guest," Danny muttered. "Clothes, please."

"I'll take care of that," Chin said. "Danny's right. We can't run this down if we're constantly on our guard here."

Steve heard and understood the underlying tone: _We can't run this down if we're all too frightened to leave Danny alone for any length of time._ And that was the crux of it: Kono and Chin couldn't follow the nurse because they hadn't wanted to leave Danny with one uniform near the door. Steve felt like the team was being pulled in too many directions; they couldn't access all the resources they needed from the hospital.

Better together, like Danny said – and better if they were on task and focused. It might be a taxing step forward for Danny – and for the rest of them – but it was a step forward.

That was good enough.

-tbc…

* * *

_Author's note: A HUGE thank you to all my reviewers and followers and readers. I haven't had a chance to respond to everyone personally, but know that I appreciate each and every review, follow, and favorite. They seriously make my day. And hopefully, when I'm not dead on my feet after work some night, I'll be able to respond individually to reviews. Thank you for all the encouragement! You seriously rock. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Crippled**  
Chapter Seven

This was not the best idea. Steve leaned on the table, gaze drawn inexorably to his partner. Detective Danny Williams, for his part, was at least dressed, which was a step up from the hospital bed. He was also slumped in a chair and using a hand to shield his eyes from the bright monitors around him. Steve, Chin, and Kono had each tried to get him to take a breather, but Danny was nothing if not stubborn. At least he was sitting down and that had only come as a result of Kono threatening him with another hit to the head if he didn't.

"You know," Chin remarked casually as Kono came from her office and into the bullpen, "you could have mentioned that looking at the screen was going to be a problem."

Steve rolled his eyes when Danny snorted. "Thought you had figured that out," the shorter man grumbled, though he nodded a thanks to Kono when she pressed two pieces of glossy paper into his hands. Rather than staring at the headache-inducing monitors, he'd asked for paper copies of the suspects.

"You didn't see the guy when he was in your room?" Steve asked and he couldn't help the incredulous tone that crept into his voice.

"My eyes were closed." Danny sat up and let his hand drop as he set the photos side by side on his lap. "Don't give me that face."

"I'm not giving you any face," Steve immediately responded – and Chin responded to that by raising a brow in Steve's direction. "This is not a face," Steve protested.

"Your face is giving me a headache," Danny muttered as he raised one of the pictures to eye level. "This the guy in the room?"

Kono leaned over his shoulder to peer at it. "Yeah, that's him. Why?"

Danny shook the picture a little, brow creased as he looked it over. "He doesn't look familiar to you?"

She shook her head. "I really don't think so, Danny. You seeing something?"

With a grunt, Danny dropped the photo. "I have no idea."

"Helpful."

"Shut up, Steve."

Hands up in surrender, Steve propped a hip against the table and watched as Danny picked up the other picture. If he was expecting some sort of earth-shattering revelation, he was disappointed. Danny's only reaction to the grainy picture of a man with a ball-cap pulled low over his face was a frown.

"So this is the guy who took a shot at me?"

"Allegedly," Chin said, eyes catching Kono's and no one needed to ask about what he was thinking. Could have been Kono just as easily and Chin was still reeling from it.

Danny set the photo down, still frowning. "He looks like a tool."

"We already knew that," Steve said as he uncrossed his arms and pushed himself up off the table. "You don't recognize him." It wasn't a question; Danny would have offered the information without hesitation.

"Sorry," Danny offered and he suddenly looked exhausted.

"'s all right, brah," Chin said. "Had to ask."

Steve reached over and plucked the picture of the shooter from Danny's lap. "You and Kono concentrate on this guy. Chin and I will coordinate with HPD and see about running this one down. Fong's running facial rec on both, but it's apparently slow going." And Steve's tone told them all exactly what he thought of the slow going.

Chin nodded and Kono planted herself by Danny's chair, but it was Danny's narrow-eyed look that prompted Steve to keep talking.

"Look, I know we're all on edge. We're all worried about each other." Apart from Danny's raised brow, there wasn't a reaction to the stated obvious. "But we can't just sit here and wait for HPD to find a lead for us. Since you," and he pointed at Danny, "think something about that guy," and Steve pointed to the picture still in Danny's lap, "is familiar, you're in charge of figuring out how."

"And Kono's my bodyguard?" Danny asked dryly.

"Yes." Steve gave Kono a near apologetic shrug. "She's also apparently your eyes, since you still can't look at a monitor without diving under a desk."

Danny held up one finger. "There was no diving."

"I'm not arguing with you." As Danny continued to sputter, Steve turned his attention to Kono. "See if you can figure anything out about this guy. Go through old case files, lean on Fong, anything. We need something to follow up on."

"Got it, boss." Kono leaned against the table, lips pressed together. Steve couldn't help but think that this case suddenly rested on a concussed detective and his probably messed up memory. But if anyone was going to look at Danny slouched in a chair and a slight woman leaning next to him and dismiss them right away, they'd have another think coming. They were four of the best. "Where are you off to?" Kono continued.

"We're gonna try to follow this guy's tracks. Something's got to have caught him when he fled. There are other cameras, evidence HPD may not have picked up on."

Danny looked up at that, his expression easy to read.

"Yeah, I know," Steve said with a sigh. "We're basically trampling on leftovers."

"But we don't have anything else," Chin finished. "Let's get to it."

Steve nodded, turning to point at Kono even as he jogged out of the bullpen. "Call me."

"First to know, boss," she called back. She waited until Steve and Chin were out of sight before turning her attention to Danny. Seeing that he was already looking at her, she shrugged one shoulder and asked, "so what first?"

Danny looked down at the picture at a loss. "Besides stare at it and hope something hits me?" He shrugged, mimicking her earlier gesture almost perfectly. He leaned back in the chair, his good hand coming up to rest on his forehead. "You wanna start with newer cases or older?"

"Neither," Kono said and Danny could almost see her pout. "Newer?"

"Newer it is." Danny looked at the picture again, hoping against hope that whatever had pinged him would make itself known. "This could take awhile."

"It's something, though," Kono sighed.

"Not really. Just as much Steve and Chin rehashing an old crime scene."

Kono was silent for a long moment; the only sound that came from her direction was the dull tapping of her working at the table. "You know," she said, her tone light, "you could lay down and rest while I do this."

"Quit hovering," was the short answer.

Kono sighed again. "Please?"

"No."

"How's your arm?"

"In a cast," Danny grunted. "I could clock someone and never feel it."

Kono grinned at the easy threat and turned her attention to pulling up case files.

-tbc…

_((note: short chapter, I know, but with the delay in getting this out, I didn't want to make anyone wait longer than they already had. Thank you to everyone who has followed and reviewed thus far!))_


	8. Chapter 8

**Crippled  
**Chapter Eight

"That's it."

Kono didn't even look over at Danny, assuming he was giving up this vain search for something familiar in the case files. Opting to go over paper files – which meant that Danny had gone through what looked like an entire carton of paper from the supply closet when he started printed things off – Danny was ensconced in a corner of the bullpen, on the floor, surrounded by small mountains of papers. Kono, for her part, had taken over the smart-table; weariness and an all-around general feeling of hopelessness finally left her bent over it, elbows on the frame and chin in hands as she read, looked at pictures, and prayed for one single lead. "What's it?" she asked tiredly.

"Our guy."

Kono nearly gave herself whiplash as she spun to face Danny. "What?"

In answer, Danny held out a single sheet of paper. Kono was across the room in two bounding steps and snatched up the paper without ceremony.

"You're welcome," Danny muttered as he let his hand drop.

Silently and with wide eyes, Kono lowered herself to sit cross-legged in front of Danny. "Whoa."

"Take it you see him."

Kono nodded. "With Cardoso? Danny, I never would have… How did you even…"

"Pick out a guy from the background of a surveillance photo?" Despite the bags under his eyes and the exhausted expression, Danny managed a smile and a handwave. "Luck. Seriously."

"I thought we picked up all of Cardoso's bigwigs."

"I'm thinking we might have missed one." Danny pressed his lips together with a sigh before speaking again. "At one point, we all thought Wo Fat was a driver, too."

Kono frowned as she reached for some of Danny's files. "As far as cases go, Cardoso and his drugs was pretty open and shut."

"Yeah, but not easy," Danny countered. "He had three safehouses, bodyguards galore, and more drug money than even he knew what to do with."

"You think his reach is long enough to orchestrate a hit like this from prison?"

"Oh, yeah."

Kono's hand fell into her lap, where the papers fell from lax fingers. "We dismissed this guy as just a bodyguard. After Cardoso was arrested, we tried to run down all of these guys, but they scattered."

"One of them came back," Danny said grimly.

"At least one," Kono added. After a beat, she continued. "Well. Hell." She studied the picture, worrying her lower lip as she did so. "Two questions."

"Shoot."

Kono gave him a withering look for the word, which he responded to with a half-shrug. "Did we ever get a name on this guy?"

"No," Danny said. "That's why we could never run him down." He leaned against the wall behind him, the very picture of exhaustion. "What's the second question?"

"What the hell was he doing in your room and why didn't he make a move then?"

The discomfort that flashed across Danny's face spoke volumes. He didn't know either, apparently. "I can guess," he said, "but I can't be sure."

"Best guess?"

"Intel."

Kono's brow furrowed. "What?"

Danny pushed himself off the wall, leaning forward into Kono's space. "Did it ever occur to any of you that this wasn't just a shot at me?"

There was silence for a beat before Kono spoke again, her voice hard. "I'm not sure I understand." But she was beginning to and she didn't like where it was going.

"This isn't about me." Danny gestured toward her with his casted arm. "Or a missed shot at you – and, yes, that had occurred to me," he added at Kono's incredulous look. "This is about Five-0."

Kono pulled her cell phone from her pocket. "Cardoso moves on Five-0…"

"…takes us out," Danny continued, "and his drug trafficking is back in business, as far as he's concerned."

"He's still awaiting trial," Kono hissed. "He's in a cell."

"And with his money and connections, he may not be there for very long."

Kono cursed quietly under her breath as she held the phone up to her ear. Upon Steve's answering the call, she spoke quickly and forcefully. "It's Cardoso, Boss. And he's making a play for all of us." She stood, offering one hand to Danny as she listened to McGarrett's orders. "Yeah, got it."

As Danny took her hand to lever himself to his feet, she disconnected the call. "What's up?" he asked.

"We're leaving."

Instantly, Danny was on alert. "Why?"

"I don't know." Kono's voice was terse as she gathered a few files and started shutting down the computers. "He wants us at HPD."

Danny stopped in his tracks, halfway to his office. "What?" He gestured helplessly to the doors. "SuperSEAL knows we're more vulnerable moving around like that."

"I don't know, Danny," Kono shoved a flashdrive in her pocket and checked on the gun in her holster. "But if McGarrett says go, we'll go."

"Yeah." Danny hesitated, hand on his office door. "Kono, what happened to my gun and badge?"

Kono turned abruptly to face him, eyes wide. "Oh, shit."

Danny was stock-still for a moment before he abandoned his quest for what was obviously not in his office. Moving much too fast for his still-aching head, he took Kono by the elbow and ushered them both out of the office. "I don't know what Steve's thinking," he said, his tone hard, "but if what's-his-face has my badge, that can't be a good thing."

"I know," Kono answered. She quickly regained composure and found her own pace, pulling free of Danny's grip. She placed herself to walk slightly behind Danny, with him at her left and her hand on the butt of her weapon on her right hip. He raised a brow at her protective stance, but didn't bother with commenting.

There were other things to do – more important things – than pick an argument.

Like stay alive long enough to get to HPD.

"You're driving," Danny said, his voice forced casual.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Kono responded in kind.

And, just like that and just like before, they exited the palace and stepped into the bright sunshine.

-tbc…


	9. Chapter 9

**Crippled  
**Chapter Nine

"Stand there." Steve pointed to Chin with only a cursory glance as they walked side by side. Without looking to see if Chin complied, he stopped too, lips pressed into a thin line and turning on his heel to stare back the way they'd come. Steve had already called Fong twice and Duke once, despite having told Kono to make those calls as they left the building. Duke was, luckily for them, still being patient about it all but easy-going Fong sounded like he was about ready to chuck his phone into the Pacific the next time Steve called him for anything. Steve and Chin had scoured the area, looking in vain for forgotten cameras or ATMs with a vantage point – anything, really – before making their way to the spot where the shooter had been seen on grainy cell phone footage.

Chin didn't move except to raise his brows as Steve circled him, hands on hips and gaze darting back and forth. From where they stood, they had a clear shot at the door to Five-0's offices and yet were fairly protected. Backs to a corner and off the street, it was a good shot for a person who knew their way around a gun, as their suspect obviously did. "This is where he stood," Chin said, and it wasn't a question.

"Best place I can see and close to where our video was shot." Steve heaved a sigh and pointed toward the office building. "Direct line of sight. Protected." He glanced toward the right, where the busiest street in the area crossed their line of sight. "Easy egress."

Chin nodded slowly, his own gaze traveling over the area, though not darting around as quickly as Steve's. "I had a thought."

And with that, Steve halted abruptly and turned to pin Chin with a steady, questioning gaze.

"You and Danny had just gone in those same doors," Chin said. "It was a matter of minutes."

"So if he was targeting Danny," Steve said, "he may not have been here yet." He frowned, glancing at the busy intersection not too terribly far away. "With a time frame, we can pin down some cameras."

Chin nodded slowly. "Good idea, but that wasn't my point."

Steve whirled on him, brow furrowed. "What?"

"He got here and took the first shot he had."

Steve blinked at him; it only took a moment before he latched onto what Chin had already been thinking. "It wasn't just Danny or Kono." He rubbed his jaw and sighed. "We've been so focused on Danny that we missed the obvious."

"We all did, HPD included. The target was whoever came through that door first," Chin said, "which means it could have been any of us."

Steve let his hand drop and then nodded. "Okay." He nodded, gaze once again darting between the intersection and the building. "Okay, that changes things."

"We need to broaden our search."

But Steve was already shaking his head. "No, we narrow it."

Chin shook his head, eyes narrowing. "I'm not sure I understand."

"It'll be something recent," Steve said as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "I'm calling Kono; I want her and Danny at HPD. They can run this down from there." Chin could almost hear what was unspoken: Danny and Kono were both in a vulnerable position, thanks to a lack of information and Danny's injury. Steve's phone rang as he was pulling up the contacts. Steve frowned as he answered. "Duke?"

Chin half-listened to the one-sided conversation while he looked around. Steve was right; this was a good place to set up, if one was going to take a quick shot and get out. The intersection was busy, the tourists were always around, and it was a good location if one was looking to blend into a crowd as quickly as possible. Panic would be created with one shot and then he could disappear into milling people without even thinking about it.

Textbook. Chin hated it, if only because something so simple seemed like it could be followed easily. It had been proven differently to him time and again, but his hackles still rose at the slight.

"You got a name?"

And just like that, Chin's attention was back on Steve. He whirled on the commander, gaze expectant.

"Run him down," Steve said, tone clipped. "Keep me updated." There was a pause and then Steve answered Duke's obvious question, voice grim and determined. "I'm securing my people." He hung up without another word, thumbing through his contacts as Chin spoke.

"What'd he say?"

"HPD got a hit on those traffic cameras. Shooter jumped into an SUV. He-" The phone rang again. Steve scowled as he answered. "Kono."

Chin listened as patiently as he possibly could as Steve directed Kono to get her and Danny to safety. When Steve hung up, he spoke again, desperate for some sort of information beyond the bare facts that he was getting. "Steve."

"Danny identified the nurse," Steve answered, stuffing his phone in his pocket and looking anywhere but at Chin. Chin couldn't take offense; he himself was watching the area around them more than he was watching Steve. "Cardoso's man."

This time, it was Chin who ran a hand over his face. "And Duke?"

"Our shooter jumped into an SUV waiting on the street. Got pictures; Duke recognized the driver as one of Cardoso's top guys. The SUV was reported stolen two days ago. Dark green Cherokee, older model."

Chin nodded again; older Cherokees were notoriously easy to steal and usually nondescript enough to keep one's head down pretty easily. Easy to get in and out of and with enough room to house some equipment without trouble, it wasn't a surprise to connect their bad guys with that type of car.

And then that type of car caught his eye, parked on the street not far from that busy intersection. Without looking, Chin reached out and touched Steve's bicep. "There."

Steve followed his gaze, moving almost before he'd locked onto the green Cherokee on the street. "He's here."

"Or he's dumped the car," Chin said, having no trouble keeping up with Steve's fast clip.

Steve shook his head. "He's here," he countered.

Chin didn't – and couldn't – argue. Sometimes, a gut feeling was all one had.

-tbc...

_Many thanks to my lovely reviewers. :) _


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